Telephone booth



Jan. 4, 1938. F. A. KUNTZ TELEPHONE BOOTH Filed Aug. 16, 1.934

5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR F. A. KUNTZ EEPHONE By M24 FIG. A

ATTORNEY Jan. 4, 1938. F. A. KUNTZ TELEPHONE BOOTH Filed Aug/l6, 1 34 QSheets-Sheet I5 v ATTORNEY Jan. 4, 1938. F. A. KUNTZ TELEPHONE BOOTHFiled Aug. 16, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 7

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aw m F ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 4, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICETELEPHONE BOOTH Frank A. Kuntz, Woodhaven, N. Y., assignor to BellTelephone Laboratories, Incorporated,- New York, N. YL, a corporation ofNew York Application August 16, 1934, Serial No. 740,038

3 Claims. (01. 20-35) This invention relates to telephone booths andFig. 8 is a partial view of the booth showing its object is to improvethe construction of such the door releasing mechanism in its normalposibooths. tion;

According to the present invention a telephone Fig. 9 is a partial rearview of the booth showing booth is provided in which the walls thereofare the door releasing mechanism in its operated held in assembledangular relation at their lower position;

ends by a base on the center portion of which Fig. 10 is a modificationof the door releasing is secured an upright support provided formountmechanism shown in Fig. 8; and ing a revolving chair. These wallsare held in Fig. 11 is a partial view of the booth taken on 10 angularrelation at their upper ends by an aperline H-ll of Fig. 1 showing thebase, the floor- 10 tured ceiling and a roof with a partition extendingand the chair upright support in section. ing in parallel relation tothe front and rear In the telephone booth of this invention the walls ofthe booth to form compartments for walls A, B, C and D shown through theseveral mounting a lighting fixture and a fan, the openfigures cooperateto form a booth of substan- 15 ings in the ceiling in cooperation withthe opentially square cross-section. These walls are pro 1 ings in theroof forming an air inlet and an air vided at their edges withinterfitting grooves and outlet for the stream of air generated by thetongues GT provided for readily assembling them fan and an openingformed between the base and in proper relation and a number of screws 25the bottom edge of the door assists in exhausting shown in Figs. 1 and11 are provided for securing the air from the booth. Means for mountingthe them at their lower ends to the upright extendfan on the ceiling isprovided whereby the noise ing flanged portions 26 of a base 21, thisbase generated by the movement of the fan is attenubeing provided with anumber of bearing portions ated to a point wherein this noise isineffective to such as 28 on which the booth rests in an upright afiectthe telephone conversations and means is direction.

provided whereby one section of the normal in- Walls A, B, C and D areinteriorly lined with 25 wardly folding door of the booth may be movedornamental plates 29, 30, 3| and 32 and to the in an outwardly foldingposition as to permit outer surface of walls B and D are secured theaccess to the interior of the booth whenever the panel boards 33 and 34shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, l, 5,

normal folding movement of this door is ac- 6 and '7.

cidentally prevented, with means operated upon On the base 21 there ismounted a pad or a pr rm v m of h r f r nflooring IQ of suitable rubberor insulating fibre r l h operation f h h in fix r nd material. Thisflooring is provided with flanged th a portions A1, B1, C1 and D1 thetop edges of which Other novel features of the invention and adare heldagainst the booth walls A, B, C and D 35 van a e Wi app a from thefollowing descripby metallic strips such as 20 as shown in Figs. 1, 35tion and y the Claims pp thereto, refer- 2 and 11, these strips beingsecured to the walls ence being had to the accompanying drawings in by an mb r of s ew I33, W c An upright support I34 having an outwardly Fi 1is a p p iv s e y v w f he flared base portion is secured to the boothbase booth showing two of the walls with portions cut by a number ofscrews such as 35 shown in Figs. 40

y and the 61001 in s u ded DO tiO I; 1, 2 and 11 and serve for securingthe center 2 s a fro t View S ow t 15 D of the portion of the flooringl9 to the booth base 21.

booth with portions cut away and the door in The upright support I34 isprovided at its upper ts normal folded position; end with a bearingportion 36 engaged by a bear- Fig. 3 is a top view showing the roof withporing 40 of a spider-shaped support 31 to which the 45 tions cut awayand the door in its folded posichair 38 is secured, these bearingshaving abuttion; ting portions provided for limiting the angular Fig 4is a, cross-sectional iew taken approximovement 0f the chair 38 on itspivot 2.5 formed mately on line 4-4 of Fig. 2; by the spindle 39engaging a hole in the upright Fig. 5 is an enlarged partial top view;pp 50 Fig. 6 is a partial view shown in section taken A ceiling 4| issecured by a number of screws approximately on line 6-6 of Fig. 5; 42 onthe top portions of walls A, B, C and D Fig. 7 is a partial top viewshowing the free as shown in Figs. 3 and 5 and holds these walls sectionof the folding door in its open position in assembled relation at thisend.

outwardly; To one side of front wall A is provided a door 55 opening 43and to the narrow portion of this wall is hinged a door made of foldingsections 44 and 45 of unequal width with the narrow section 45 equalingin width the glass panel portion of wall A as shown in Figs. 1, l, 5 and6, this symmetry of construction giving an esthetic appearance to thetelephone booth-while permitting a maximum of natural light to enter thebooth.

The door section 35 is provided at its upper end portion with a stopplate E23 shown in Fig. 6 secured thereto by a number of screws H. i.This stop plate engages the top portion of front wall A for preventingthe movement of this door section past its maximum unfolded position,that is, with respect to the plane of front wall A.

A wooden block 38 shown in Figs. 3, 5, 6, '7, 8, 9 and 10 of triangularformation is secured to the front wall A and is provided-with a groovei'i along its diagonal side for securely mounting a metallic guidingmember 46 shown in Figs. 8 and 10. This guiding member is normallyengaged by a slider 59 pivotally mounted at the top end of a geartoothed plunger 55 mounted for axial movement in a bracket 52 which issecured to the top portion of door section is. Bracket 52 is fitted witha gear toothed spindle 60 engaging the gear rack portion of plunger 5|and extends to the front side of this door section for mounting aknob 59provided for manually moving this plunger against the resistance of aspring iii from the position shown in Fig. 8 to the position indicatedin Fig. 9 for disengaging the slider 59 from the guiding bar lt andthereby permitting the movem nt of this door section outwardly as shownin Fig. '7 as to give access to the interior of the booth when thenormal inward folding movement of this door is accidentally prevented.

Fig. 10 shows a modification of the door release mechanism wherein thegear toothed plunger 5! and pinion 8E shown in Fig. 8 are replaced by aplain rod R having an operating handle 65 extending laterally therefromin an elongated slot 86 to the front side of the door section 44, thedownward movement of handle 65 and thereby the movement of plunger R.against the resistance of spring 6! being effective to disengage theslider 55] from the guiding member (it as above described in connectionwith the door releasing mechanism shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

As shown in Figs. 3, 5 and 6 the booth ceiling 4! is provided with acentrally disposed opening it fitted with a lighting fixture consistingof apertured plates H and it connected to each other by a plurality ofbrackets M, the plate ll being, in turn, secured to the top side ofceiling 4| by a plurality of screws 12.

A bracket '55 secured to the top surface of ceiling M by a number ofscrews 76 supports a casing i? for housing the connecting block of alamp socket 88 shown in Fig. 6 to which the lamp i8 is fitted, thelighting fixture plate 73 having a centrally disposed aperture forreceiving a translucent inverted dome-shaped light shade i9.

Ceiling ii is provided adjacent the intersecting point of the walls Cand D with a preferably square-shaped opening 80 fitted with a frame 8!held in place on the ceiling by a number of screws 82. This frame isprovided with a plurality of inwardly bent lug portions such as 83 shownin Figs. 3, 5 and 6 for securing similar ends of resilient strips RS tothe other ends of which the motor 85 is secured in a horizontal positionand to the armature shaft of motor 85 is mounted a'fan wheel '86provided for generating a current of air in the direction indicated bythe arrows for Ventilating the booth, the air exhausting through theopenings in the lighting fixture plates "3 and H and through an openingformed between the lower edge of the folding door and a metallic stripI08 which serves to secure the front edge of the floor covering I!) tothe booth base .2? and also as a non-slip threshold, this metallic stripbeing secured to the base 21 as by a number of rivets I39, shown inFigs. 1 and 4.

To the top edges of walls A and C there is secured a roof 9!). This roofis provided with a louver plate ti for the exhaust of the air and apartition 92 divides the space formed by the ceiling 4i and the roof Siiinto two compartments T and T1, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 5 and 6 servingas a barrier for preventing the vitiated air exhausting from the booththrough the several openings in the light fixture plates to reenter thebooth at this point, thus forcing the air to exhaust through the louverplate 9i in a direction opposite to that of the air inlet as indicatedby the arrows in Fig. 5.

On the top disposed surface of ceiling ii there is mounted a casing $35for housing a switching mechanism, not shown, this mechanism having acamming arm 96 disposed in engageable relation with an operating leverarm 91 formed integrally with a vertical spindle 93 extending through anopening in ceiling 4i and secured to one flap of the door hinge Hzby anumber of screws, such as 99.

The contact elements of the switch in casing 95 are connected to thepower line l! by a cable I02 connected to the terminals of lamp 18 towhich the fan motor 85 is also connected through wires N13.

The operation of camming arm 96 and of the switch actuated therebywithin a predetermined angular movement of the door section 45 iseffective to operate the switching device for closing the lamp and themotor circuit for operating them.

In the corner of the booth formed by the intersection of the walls C andD as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 and disposed at a predetermined distancewith respect to the fan wheel 86 is mounted a metallic writing shelf Iof unit structure which is held securely to the walls 0', D by aplurality of screws I66 and on this writing shelf is securely mounted abracket II]? to which the telephone apparatus in the form of a coincollector C-C is secured by a plurality of screws, not shown, suchapparatus being so related as to height and distance from the chair 38as to place the user of the booth in the air stream generated by themovement of the fan, this disposition of elements permitting the use ofa fan of minimum air displacement together with considerable saving inthe initial cost of the apparatus, current used and the avoidance ofnoises as generated by a fan or greater air displacement characteristic,while the spring mounting of the fan effectively prevents any vibrationfrom reaching the walls of the telephone booth.

It is understood that minor changes may be made to this telephone boothwithout departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A telephone booth having a rear wall, side walls, a ceiling forholding the walls in angular relation to each other at their upper ends,a base for holding the walls in angular relation to each other at theirlower ends, a front wall having a door opening, a door made of twofolding sections for the opening, normally folding inwardly of thebooth, means for controlling the folding move ment of said doorcomprising an inverted U- shaped guide member secured to the under sideof the ceiling, a slider element normally engaging said guiding member,a plunger on the top of which said slider element is pivoted, a bracketfor said plunger carried by the inner face of the free door section, anda handle accessible from the exterior of said free door section, saidhandle operatively engaging said plunger for disengaging said sliderfrom said guiding member at any point therealong for folding said freedoor section outwardly of the booth.

2. A telephone booth having a rear wall, side walls, a ceiling, a frontwall having a door opening, a door consisting of a plurality of sectionsfor said opening hinged to each other and one of said sections to oneside of the front wall, means for controlling the folding movement ofthe door comprising an inverted U-shaped guiding member secured to theunder side of the ceiling, a bracket carried by the inner face of thefree door section, a plunger mounted in said bracket, a slider elementarranged for pivotal movement on said plunger and engaging said guidingmember for controlling the normal inwardly folding movement of saiddoor, spring means acting on said plunger for holding said slider inengaged relation with said guiding member, means mounted on the outerside of said door and connected to said plunger for manually operatingsaid plunger against the tension of said spring means to disengage saidslider element from said guiding member at any point therealong formoving said free door section outwardly of the booth.

3. A telephone booth having a rear wall, side walls, a ceiling, and abase, in combination with a front wall having a door opening disposed onone side thereof, a door consisting of two hinged sections of unequalwidth for the opening, the narrower section being substantially equal inwidth to the larger portion of said front wall and hinged to thenarrower side thereof, an inverted U-shaped guide member secured to theunder side of the ceiling, a bracket carried by the wider section ofsaid door and mounted on the inner side thereof, a plunger mounted insaid bracket having a slider element normally engaging said guide memberfor controlling the normal inward folding movement of said doorsections, and manually operable means disposed outwardly of said widerdoor section for disengaging said slider from said guide member formoving said Wider door section outwardly of the booth.

FRANK A. KUNTZ.

